Hoisting and conveying apparatus.



PATBNTBDMAY 26, 1903.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. .21, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

. No'. 729,292. A PATENTBD MAY 26,1903.

J. H'. DIGKINSON- j HOISTING AND CONVEYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 21,11,902.

' 2 SHEETS SHEET 2 A Q AN place.

I PATENT ZPatented. May 26, 1903.

OFFICE.

JOSEPH H. DICKINSON, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE LIDGER- WOODMANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

HOISTING AND CONVEYING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 729,292, dated May26,1903; 1 Application filed l'anuary21,1902. serainogsosn. mamas.)

cableways, ropeways, and similar conveyers',f and comprises the novelfeatures which will be hereinafter described, and particularly pointedout in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which the same reference characters representcorresponding figures.

Figure 1 shows diagrammaticallyinelevation a cableway having myimprovements em Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofj the carriage, showing thevarious ropes in: Fig. 3 is an edge elevation of the car-f riage. Fig. 4is a side elevation of a carriage, showing a slightly modifiedconstruction? Fig. 5 is an edge elevation of the carriage: shown in Fig.4. Figs. 6 and 7 are sectional bodied therein.

details showing, respectively, the construction of grip-wheels andchain-wheels which may be used on the carriage.

In operating cableways or ropeways much difficulty is often found ingetting the fallblock to descend from the-carriage when desired. This isdue to the fact that-the stretch} of the hoisting-rope extending betweenthe; carriage and the first support sags down and causes a strain uponthe rope which the weight of the fall-block is unable to overcome. It isthis which has caused the necessity for fallrope carriers. In my presentinvention I provide means, mounted largely upon the carriage, by which;the hoisting or'fall rope may be positively paid out withoutoverweighting the fall-block or employing an excessive nu 1nber offall-rope carriers.

In the cableway as shown'in Fig. 1 three cables or ropes are used-thetrackway or supporting-cable A, which is supported at a aat oppositeends of the span, the hauling or traction rope B, and the hoisting orfall rope D. The hauling-rope B is endless, passing from the carriageover guide-pulley 3 on the headparts in thedifterent supportto and aboutthe drumll, over guidepulleyt on. the head-support, between guidepulleysb b on the carriage, overguide-pulleys 2 and l'on the tail-support, andback to the carriage. The hoisting-rope is double, the ends thereof"winding, respectively, upon drums 9 and 10 and extending over'guidepulleys 5 and 8 {on the ahead-support, One run ofthelloisting-ropethen extends to and about a Wheehas G, on the carriageO','then down and about the Wheel, of the fall-block F and upward abouta wheel, as G, upon the carriage. Thehoisting-rope may then extendeither about a guide pulley or pulleys, as 6 and 7, upon thetail-support and back to the head-support, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, ormay extend directly from the carriage back to the head-support, as shownin Fig. 4. :In either case the wheels G and G upon the carriageoverwhich the hoisting-rope passes should beso constructed that the,rope will grip them with sufficient force'to insure that they willalways turn with the hoisting-rope and-prevent-thepossibility of therope slipping upon the wheels. In case the ordinary groove in thewheelis not sufficient to prevent slipping a grip-wheel, such as shown inFig. 6,-or any other desired construction may be employed, or the wheelmay be provided with pockets adapted to receive either the links ofa-chain or buttons upon a rope and a chainbe -inserted=in-the rope orbuttons atjtachedtheretoto 'cooperatewith the wheels.

Thegrip-wheel 9 as shown in Fig. 6, has a hollow andz'inwardly-curvedrim g, within which are placedangular gripping levers or blocks h, whichare normally held' outward by springs I, but are forced inward by thepressure of the rope, and thus caused tojgrip the rope. The wheel g,,a's shown inFig. 7, has its periphery provided with ,pockets 9 adaptedto receive either-Ethe links ofa chain or buttons on therope. v

The two wheels G andG are. made unequal 5 in size and arerespectivelysecured to gear:v

wheels E and E, which bear to each other f,

diflerent ratio than that between the wheels G and G. In the drawingsthe gear-wheels are shown as 01": the same size. It is obvious that, ifdesired, the two rope-wheels G and G might be made of the same size andthe gear-wheels E and E unequal in size, the requirement being that theratios between the two pairs of wheels be unequal.

In Figs-1 and 2 I have shown the twogears E and E as connected by anintermediate wheel E while in Figs. 4 and 5 they are directly connected.In Figs. 1 and 2 one run of the hoisting-rope extends from the carriagein opposite directions to the head and tail support and the other run Dextends between the head and tail support and is shown as supported by awheel G upon the same shaft as the intermediate gear E.

In Figs. 4 and 5 both runs of the hoistingrope extend from the carriagedirectly to the head-support. In both forms the ends of thehoisting-rope wind upon separate drums, which should be capable ofturning at speeds dilfering in the same ratio as the peripheral speedsof the two wheels G and G. They should also be capable of turning at thesame speed, which should correspond in some cases with the speed giventhe hauling-rope.

In operating my device the carriage is caused to travel along thetrackway by the operation of the endless hauling-rope in the usualmanner. If it is desired that the fallblock and the load carried therebybe kept at a uniform distance from the carriage, the drums which areconnected with the ends of the hoisting-rope are rotated oppositely at aperipheral speed equal to that of the drum which operates thehauling-rope. The fallblock will therefore not change its positionrelatively to the carriage.

If it is desired to raise or lower the fallblock, the two drumscontrolling the hoisting-rope are turned oppositely at peripheral speedsdilfering in the same ratio as the two wheels G and G. When turned inone direction, this will cause the hoisting-rope to run off of that oneof the two supportingwheels having the greater peripheral speed and uponthe one having the lesser peripheral speed, and the fall-block will belowered at a speed equal to one-halfof the difference between theperipheral speeds of the two supporting-wheels. It turned in theopposite direction, the hoisting'rope will be run ofi of that one of thetwo supporting-wheels having the lesser peripheral speed and upon theone having the greater peripheral speed and the fall-block will beraised at a speed equal to half the difference between the peripheralspeeds of the two wheels. The operator thus has at his command means bywhich the descent of the fall-block may be positively securedindependent of its weight or the distance of the carriage from thenearest fallrope support.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patcut, is

1. In a hoisting and conveying device the combination with a trackway, acarriage thereon,and means for moving the carriage along the trackway,of ahoisting-rope, two

wheels upon the carriage receiving the hoisting-rope and connected tohave differential peripheral speeds, means for taking up and paying outthe two ends of the hoisting-rope independently of each other and atvariable speeds, and a fall-block suspended in a loop of thehoisting-rope between said differential wheels.

2. In a hoisting and conveying device the combination with a trackway, acarriage thereon, and means for moving the carriage along the trackway,of a hoisting-rope, two wheels upon the carriage receiving thehoisting-rope and connected to have difierential peripheral speeds,means for positively engaging the hoisting-rope and said wheels toprevent slipping, means for taking up and paying out the two ends of thehoisting-rope independently of each other and at variable speeds, and afall-block suspended in a loop of the hoisting-rope between saiddifferential wheels.

3. In a hoisting and conveying device the combination with a trackway, acarriage mounted to travel on said trackway, a hauling-rope connectedwith said carriage and a drum for actuatingsaid hauling-rope, of twowheels upon the carriage connected to have differential peripheralspeed, a hoistingrope extending over said wheels and having a loopdepending between them, a fall-block suspended in said loop, and meansfor taking up and paying out both ends of the hoisting-ropeindependently of each other and at variable speeds.

4. In a hoisting and conveying device the combination with a trackway, acarriage mounted to travel on said trackway, a haul-.

ing-rope connected with said carriage and a drum for actuating saidhauling-rope, of two wheels upon the carriage connected to havedifierential peripheral speed, positive ropegripping means carried bysaid wheels,a hoisting-rope extending over said wheels and having a loopdepending between them, a fallblock suspended in said loop, and meansfor taking up and paying out both ends of the hoisting-ropeindependently of each other and at variable speeds.

-5. In a hoisting and conveying device the combination with a trackway,a carriage mounted to travel thereon, and means for ac-' tuating thecarriage, of a, hoisting-rope extending to the carriage and back again,a fallblock suspended by the hoisting-rope beneath the carriage, meansfor lowering the fallblock by pulling upon one end of the hoisting-ropeand means for raising the fall-block by pulling upon the other end ofthe hoistingrope.

6. In a hoisting device the combination with a looped or double-runhoisting-rope and means for actuating the two runs at diiIerent speeds,of geared diflferential pulleys receiving the hoisting-rope to form aloop between them, and a fall-block suspended in said loop.

7. A carriage for use on cableways and similar devices havingtwo wheelsadapted to receive the hoisting-rope, and gearing con-' necting saidWheels to produce differential peripheral speeds therein.

8. In a hoisting and conveying apparatus, the combination with acarriage and means 7 for moving the carriage along a definite route 1the combination a rope-drum at one end of the trackway anda rope throughwhich said Wheels are driven from said drum.

10. In a'hoisting and conveying apparatus, with a trackway, a carriagethereon and means for moving the carriage along the trackway of ahoisting-rope extending along the trackway and forming a loop at thefall, two wheels upon the carriage re ceiving the hoisting-rope andconnected to have differential peripheral speeds, means of positiveengagement between the hoistingrope and said wheels to prevent slippingand as U a fall-block suspended in a loop of the hoisting-rope betweensaid difierential wheels.

11. A carriage for use on cableways and similar devices having twoconnected wheels adapted to clutch the hoisting-rope and havingdifierent peripheral speeds.

12. A carriage for use on cableways and similar devices having twowheels adapted to clutch the hoisting-rope and gearing connecting saidwheels to produce differential peripheral speeds thereon.

13. The combination with a carriage adapt ed for use on cableways andsimilar devices, of two connected wheels of diiferent peripheral speeds,a hoisting-rope fastened successively over said wheels and forming aloop between them adapted to receive the fallblock; said wheels beingconstructed to form a peripheral clutching engagement with saidhoisting-rope.

14. In a hoisting apparatus, in combination, a hoisting-rope, a drum bywhich it is actuated, a lowering-Wheel and a hoisting- Wheel over bothof which said hoisting-rope passes at the top of the fall and meanswhereby the hoisting motion of one of said wheels communicates thelowering motion to the other thereof.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my name in the presence oftwo witnesses.

JOSEPH H. DICKINSON.

Witnesses:

M. S. AMSTUTZ, A. M. DICKINSON.

